Friday, 11 January 2008

Uptown top banking

I wanted to say something about LL's moves against the SL banking community (no, that's not rhyming slang) but I don't really have long enough for a considered post. Not that I care much about the banking community per se - I've never used an in-world bank and have never seen much point in doing so. This is particularly true of those offering impressive sounding interest rates, largely on the rule of thumb that if something looks too good to be true then it probably is.

But as I said when LL outlawed in-world gambling, what these moves represent is a significant change of direction for LL - away from a largely hands-off, anything goes approach, towards a more regulated world. Not surprising I suppose. Host an online service in the US, even on the west coast, and outside forces are going to be brought to bear on it before long - especially once the mainstream media gets interested in it. Actually, this is probably true of most countries - I shouldn't pick on the US. LL should probably be congratulated for holding out as long as they have.